German patent application No. 42 06 910 discloses a measuring device which is generally composed of a signal generator ring, a stationary sensor and a housing used as a sensor holding means. The sensor is inserted into the housing and positioned and retained therein in a predetermined position. The sensor is preferably a wheel bearing sensor.
In German patent application No. 42 13 977, the sensor and sensor housing of a wheel bearing sensor of this type are arranged in the axis of rotation of the wheel whose rotary motion is to be measured. An annular or bowl-shaped component having inwardly directed teeth that rotates with the wheel is used as a signal generator. The sensor includes a double-sided measuring coil having pole shoes that project from both sides and extend as far as the inside surface of the signal generator. The sensor of this reference is also inserted into the associated sensor-accommodating housing.
Wheel bearing sensors of this type are required, for example, in automotive vehicles for measuring the rotating speeds of the individual vehicle wheels when the vehicle is equipped with an anti-lock or traction slip control system, or any other vehicle control system. Reliability in operation, but also manufacturing and assembling costs, is of vital importance in such applications.
The generic German publication No. 40 33 064 also discloses a device for measuring rotary motions. In this reference, the exact position of the sensor relative to the component to be monitored can be adjusted during the assembly by way of projections on the sensor-accommodating housing. The projections interact with an adjusting member in which the sensor is arranged. The manufacture of a device of this type, however, is complicated and costly.
An object of the present invention is to construct a bearing sensor or a measuring device of this type so that the expenditure in manufacture and the time required for positioning and fixing the sensor in the predetermined angular position and axial position are minimized.